Voices of Light
by Jakafe
Summary: Centers around Mitsui's life as a radio host since he graduated from Shohoku approx. 2 years after the manga ends, where he accidentally saved a woman's life through his show. MitOC, and I swear she's more lovable than I make her sound to be.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer**: Damnit, I don't effing own Slam Dunk, and I got no money outta this!

**Voices of Light**

It was reaching the nearest signal to a very late evening on the dark skies of Atsugi city, Kanagawa prefecture. Amongst the many existences of apartments in the area, one particular building of the said type held another story to unfold behind the walls of its fourteenth floor.

Enter Room 149.

Residence of a woman named Asayake Kiyomi, who was standing calmly on her unit's balcony with the entrance sliding door widely opened, revealing the minimalist design of a typical Japanese urban structural domicile. It's completed by the space-efficiency and conceptually compact furniture occupying each of its designated locations.

She has a darkly tinted auburn hair that sinuously danced with the brush of the cool autumn wind. Her svelte, slightly athletic body wrapped loosely in a white, long sleeved shirt and a black, semi-mermaid cut dress that fell onto her bare ankles. Her pale, peach lips completed the decors of apathy descended at her visage, rending what's left out of a supposed Nippon beauty.

_Tsuki no kakurega de motomeau_

_Kanjitoruno wa sadame no setsunasa yo.__1_

Silence was what she had drown into, but the loud music of L'Arc en Ciel's "**Finale**" from the activated stereo was stretched to the very corners of the room, probably even to the length of disturbing her neighbors. Despite her genuine selfless persona, at that moment, she opted for her own heed. A two paged letter was put down with a paper weight on the nearest table, its contents explicated a few lengthy lines which told a particular condition she underwent, meant for people to read.

_Shinobiyoru kehai fusaidate_

_Oitsumerareta urei no kuchimoto ni fureta.__2_

People, meaning those who would discover the reason for her suicide later on, that is.

Once she'd hit the concrete ground beneath her, they would start asking questions and enquire her identity almost simultaneously, so it's only proper that she'd save them the trouble. She considered it as a casual code of ethics in committing a fatality on her own life, as what others had done before.

Her indoor slippers aside, she started to take hold of the balcony's handrail with both her hands. Gripping it tightly as she inhaled the nocturnal air deeply to her lungs and slowly exhaled, her shoulders relaxed and she braced her right feet to the brim for an impact. The dress didn't seem to have bothered her leg's flexibility as she successfully suspended almost half her body weight to the inner balustrades' wall. She inhaled once more before quickly holding her breath as her body leaned forward, exceeding the handrails' perimeter.

"This is it," she thought as she breathed out, "This is when the hurt stops."

It would only take one more, slightly forceful nudge from the elbows for her to finally be thrown off from the balcony's edge and into a free fall downwards. An effortless attempt for a cause so burdened with vital outcome, and she had this cooked in mind under enough timing to decide something contradictory, instead.

_Kono ude no naka de mezameyuku_

_Kimi no kanashimi ga tada kanashikute.__3_

"Why the hell did you choose this song tonight?!" a man's voice ruptured through the stereo's speakers as the song's volume was lowered dramatically. It was then revealed that it wasn't a CD or any records, but merely the radio which had presented the darkly melancholic J-Rock song earlier instead.

_Kuroshii made ni koishitau_

_Itsumademo soba ni ite hanarerarenu you ni.__4_

She gasped. Her eyes blinked. Before she knew it, a strong gush of wind forcefully blown her face and chest in an impact that left her no choice but to be openly vulnerable, causing her grip on the handrail be released, and ultimately pushed her whole body back to the safer part of the balcony in a drop that caused series of stinging pain on her backside.

"Ack!" she squealed as the mighty brunt lingered on her inflicted body parts. Arched in between the fiber-glass sliding door and the base of the platform, Asayake struggled to return the harmony of her breath as cold sweat slowly coming out of her temples and forehead, and trickled down to the sides of her pale cheeks. She didn't try to move away from the spot while her hazel eyes were fixed at an uncertain mark ahead.

"It's really, really depressing to hear during these hours! Laruku is awesome, but better if you put something horny instead, got it?" the man said again, while gradually fading off the remnants of the previous song, "Like this!"

A familiar intro guitar tune of Ken Hirai's "**TABOO**" finally took over, filling up her apartment's space with a contradictory atmosphere. As she remained almost motionless, the seemingly demanding male radio host continued his on-air banter after gradually lowering the song he's just played to a background music-leveled volume.

"See that? Instead of committing suicides, people would get laid instead!" he proudly stated, inviting an inevitable retort from his DJ music director.

"Hisa-kun, you shouldn't let your libido host the show…" suggested the lighter, more submissive sounding radio personnel.

"Eh? But it's a manly enthusiasm-_deshou ka_?" the now discovered identity, **"**Hisa-kun**"**, countered rather bluntly with a flat tone.

"Your standard of manly enthusiasm is incomprehensible!"

"_Maa, shikashi_… "

"Don't ignore me!" fumed the obviously offended music director.

"It's really important to be positive minded during each critical moments of our life." The Hisa-named person went on, nonchalantly disregarding his counterpart's protest, "I've lived off two years of my life being aimless and angry at the world, hurting people, hurting my own friends, hurting myself even to the point of taking my own life!"

Back to room 149's balcony, a stoic-poised Asayake Kiyomi jolted a nerve at her veinal structure upon hearing the most situational-related statement that was just blasted off from the stereo's speakers.

"…Whenever I look back, I'm always thankful to _Kami-sama_ for that second chance given to me..." he continued reminiscing, "And to top it off, I got a bunch of great and remarkable people that I'm just more than proud of being friends with at the end."

"_So desu-ne, dakara_…" his corresponding person trailed off in his respond.

"_Dakara mou_…" the radio host carried on, "Sex, is always a better option for stress management."

"_Omae-wa hentai-yarou_…"

As the casual repartee between those two radio-personnel faded off to Ken Hirai's promiscuous tale of lustful betrayal, a particular dark auburn haired woman remained unmoved at the floor of her unit's balcony. With a reflexive effort, her breath recovered its pace. More beads of sweat went dripping down the sides of her flushed face while the chilly breeze felt more as if it's trying to revive the vestiges of her self-awareness. It took a mere three seconds for her to finally break down in tears and regained the sanity that had lingered long enough to finally be rediscovered.

Deep in her heart, she began a quest of longing to reach the unknowing man whose voice had saved her life.

Translations:

1 "In the moon's hiding place. Searching taking in the pain of fate."

2 "The worry draw wear unnoticed stands in the way driven to the wall. Touched by the entrance of sadness."

3 "In these arms awakening. Your sadness is nothing but so sad."

4 "Before the point of maddening, I yearn for you. Always be by my side, so I'll never be separated from you."

Ah, well. Why Atsugi city? I'll explain later. Please do be kind enough to read and post reviews? I'll send some steaks over! Thank youuuuuuuu... mwah, mwah!


	2. Chapter 1 : Catnip Infection

Disclaimer: Nyahahahaha… I don't own Slam Dunk... I don't even have copyrights for the phrase "slam dunk"…

Author's Note: If there is a reason for procrastination, let me know... Because I'm going to get there and kill the bejeebus outta that mofo…

* * *

**Voices of Light**

Chapter One: "Catnip Infection"

A good mood is hard to find, at least that was what Hisashi Mitsui had in mind in this particular morning with a paper tumbler of hot ocha in his left grip while stepping out from the Odakyu line at Fujisawa station. Since work is off that day for the former MVP, he decided to take a regular check up to his old high school's newest basket ball team's lineup which, as previously reported by Haruko Akagi, similar to the condition when he was still involved.

That being, of course: unapologetically controversial.

With a mischievous grin, Hisashi lightly shook his head, amazed by Shohoku's basket ball team's inevitable connection to trouble and vein-pumping circumstances even after they've cleaned up and increased their reputation by winning various prefecture and national awards. Something that always gambles between the lines of hormonal balance, he thought so harmlessly, always ends with worthy results. Maybe it was a fragment of his wisdom that catapulted such thoughts. After all, the man has gone through so much that it's impossible for him to evade the humorous side of misfortune and irony in his lifetime.

"Today's gonna be so fun." He murmured quietly as he sipped his ocha and continued strolling alongside the sidewalk with another hand in his trouser pocket.

* * *

It was relatively quiet between two people inside a neatly decorated office room somewhere inside a building at the heart of Atsugi city. A woman in her early twenties and a sturdy-looking middle aged man, one was standing while the other was seated, respectively. The atmosphere between them was somewhere between heavy and difficult, causing enough awkwardness to set off curiosity of a group of people that couldn't help themselves from eavesdropping the audible traces of conversation behind the closed door. 

"What are they saying?" one of the female workers whispered to her male counterpart, and simply receiving a dismissal respond in return from the later while he re-positioned his ear to the door's gap.

Back at the room, however, was another different set of situation. As if the inevitable ruckus behind her is not enough to underline an obvious state of the leaked conversation with her superior, she grew more and more nervous as seconds ticked forward, and that uncomfortable silence became heavier by each heartbeat. She knew her previous statement was enough to stir a sufficient amount of disapproval, and she knew that acceptance was something she over-hoped for. Nevertheless, what happened last night was the unforgiving turning point that revolutionized every inch of her mindset; she betrayed the downward spiral which she thought had presided over her life, and in the name of that very moment, she braved herself for a crucial decision.

"Fujisawa?" the older man broke the silence, prompting the eavesdroppers to mutter as quietly as they could.

Asayake Kiyomi nodded quietly, "Yes…" she replied with her voice nearing tone-less, "Atsugi is home for me, but I fear that if I stay here, I wouldn't be able to go on with my life, that's why I decided to move to Fujisawa …"

"Your life---, "her superior halted mid-sentence, realizing what she meant, "Ah, what happened to your family…"

Small gasps and concerned looks were immediately exchanged between the eavesdroppers as they were reminded of a tragedy that had befallen upon their colleague. Handing over a poignant recollection which turned them around to when she had to endure such fierce pain from a great, great loss all by herself. However, the mention of a particular city from the pried conversation was quick to alter their attention, and it was only a couple of seconds in gap before they all went back to focus what they were doing in the first place.

"Yes." Asayake repeated, her face turned to near-apathy and her tone even more flattened, "That's why I think it is best that I resigned and---"

"I'll transfer you to our division in Fujisawa, along with a new condominium unit." Her boss appropriately cut her off, causing yet another set of gasps behind his office's door.

"Eh?!" she uttered a disbelieved response. Flabbergasted, the girl tried her best to instantly compose herself from the unexpected source of shock, "But Sir! I, I can't!"

"Can't what exactly, Kiyomi?" he promptly retorted her protest, "Letting go an employee such as yourself, is like throwing a chunk of gold bar to the open sea."

A compliment was very much appreciated, but unfortunately powerless to stop her from the frantic disapproval she desperately tries to get across her superior. His response was nothing like she'd expected, not even close to what she had thought she foresaw coming. No, her expectations were a case of being fired, packing up her office paraphernalia, moving out, getting a new place to stay, applying for a new job, and to top it all, leaving the town. Well, getting four out of six forewarnings was perhaps something she can assure herself with, but the other, most crucial two are then altered, leaving her with a reshuffled state of plans.

"Listen, Kiyomi…" her boss sternly underlined as he stood up from his chair and folded his arms in a reassuring gesture, "If it weren't for you and your management skills, I don't know where this design company would be by now…"

Before she could express another argument, the office's door was abruptly opened, and the formerly meddling group of people rushed inside to join forces against her will. Too shocked to even respond effectively, the auburn haired 21-year old could only suffer defeat as her coworkers vigorously pushed every inch of her defense, and made her accept their boss' irrefutable offer alongside with his triumphant grin. Asayake gave up any remaining traces of defiance and puffed a sigh of trounce as tears of gratitude seeped through her eyes and cheers of delight were expressed right before her.

* * *

Squeaking noises of rubber soles, the sounds of a dribbling ball that resonated to the whole indoor court, that smooth net swish, all in all are just a tiny part of his addiction towards this particular sport. What would the life of Hisashi Mitsui be without basketball indeed? A space of aimless void, or a dark turn that could consume him mercilessly into the depths of the city's criminal roster, maybe? Holding an MVP title under his belt, the 21 year old three-pointer is positively proud to stand where he's at. A graduate of an underdog high school that shocked Japan with its prestigious awakening in its national basketball history was one of the grounds he's on top of. 

"Mitchy!" a voice he knew too well greeted him from across Shohoku high school's front gate. As he looked up ahead, Hanamichi Sakuragi was present with his trademarked grin and fiery red hair, walking next to Ryota Miyagi who apparently had grown impressively taller over the past two years.

Meeting them was a weekly thing for Hisashi to do since he was a respected alumnus and co-coach alongside with Ryota for their former school team, plus the fact that Hanamichi was the chosen captain of that very same squad. It's just natural for them to commune every week to discuss and watch how the game inside that fateful basketball court would fold in under their scheduled radar. After all, they weren't and aren't going anywhere close into letting previously obtained titles and achievements be wasted once they've graduated. The torch must be passed along, and these three are just some of the people who make sure that such realizations come to being.

"Osh!" they all saluted one another with delinquent smirks plastered across their faces.

Hisashi followed his former teammates inside the school's front yard and onto the court's entrance door. He could hear all the too-familiar sounds welcoming his appearance, alongside cheers and curious looks from glancing freshmen once he stepped inside. He saw Kaede Rukawa analyzing the current practice, the third year student and national team player sat on a bench at one of the court's corners and looked casually serious as always. Not far away, Haruko Akagi was doing her motivational yells while she flipped a number at the manual scoring board, following a point for one of the teams. Those absent were Kiminobu Kogure and Takenori Akagi, as these two had become university students and are regularly occupied with their own study. All mentioned are a part of Shohoku's pride and glory, he thought, the obligatory credit that was given to them for every blood, sweat and tears dripped onto the game.

"So what do you think?" the bold alto which belongs to Ayako Morii snapped him back to reality, "It's been three weeks since we see these guys play, right?" she continued semi-rhetorically while taking a stand right next to him.

She was correct. It has been less than a month of evaluation for these newcomers since they joined the club, but it was enough for him and his ex-teammates to see just who's who and which is which in the newest lineup that boils the essence of quality to face off competitions. Reserving his judgments, Hisashi decided to coyly ask the former team manager about a certain issue in return.

"Are they better than us?"

Ayako turned her head to his direction, she released a small chuckle almost immediately as she heard that question. Such reaction was a feast for his senses, as it answered so many satires within that inquiry, and that was enough for the three-point specialist. They trailed off into light laughs which of course, put a minor jealousy remark onto Ryota who was watching his lady from across. Being sentimentally overprotective, the former point guard has unresolved issues when it comes to the many men that she's acquainted with, even when it's one of his closest, most trustworthy friends. Nonetheless, an introspective manner seized him from going further away from the current situation: the girl is his and his alone. It was decided the moment she accepted his love declaration right after graduation a year ago.

In between his recollection of the sweetest memory he'd ever experienced, Miyagi suddenly noticed that Mitsui was looking at his direction, making a gesture for the younger man to join him on the other side. Vaguely puzzled, the former team captain went along and walked to his friend's standing point. Upon reaching them however, he was abruptly halted as the previous shooting guard spoke up.

"Three on three, Miyagi."

--end of Chapter 1—

To be continued…

Endnote: Aaaaaaaahhhh… I'd like to thank the generous Ms. Yuki Akimoto for the kind review yet once more… I understand the loneliness in being somewhat the oddball when it comes to pairings preferences in a yaoi-infested fanfiction genre… honey, you are NOT alone!

So, after much examination and research (including that of asking a Japanese man for clues by showing him screenshots), I decided that where exactly Inoue-sensei was trying to position Shohoku-high is a city called Fujisawa in the Kanagawa prefecture… it has so many similarities compared to any other cities in that area..

As for Atsugi, I chose that place because there's actually a Shohoku College there… I mean, to deliberately ignore such facts would be ironic, don't you think? Hehehehe… anyhoo, I hope you enjoy this chapter as I work onto the NEXT!!


	3. Chapter 2 : Entrance to Instinct

**Disclaimer**: I don't own" Slam Dunk", but if Inoue Takehito decided to give its copyrights to me anyway, I would refuse in a heartbeat. The man knew what he was doing with this beautiful, beautiful story.

**Author's Note**: Ok. No excuses. I apologize, and I hereby repent.

Voices of Light

Chapter 2: "Entrance to Instinct"

Heavy breaths, dripping sweats, tension in the muscles and fire in their eyes. The borderline between seniors and freshmen dissolved into a melting fusion. Hisashi Mitsui was proud, and so were Sakuragi Hanamichi and Miyagi Ryota. Their three on three game ended with a fair result that satisfied both teams, alongside with the many cheers from outside the court. Akagi Haruko couldn't believe her eyes when she witnessed the dynamics of these men and the ball they're fighting a possession over. She questioned herself over and over again whether another miracle in probably the most underrated high school basket ball team would rise once more.

"_Yosh_. Good game." Ryota said, walking towards his juniors and offered a handshake. The students complied in good sportsmanship and accepted his hand, as well as both Hisashi's and Hanamichi's.

"_Sugoi_." Ayako Morii said in a satisfied tone with both her arms folded to her chest. She looked at Haruko, who looked back, and winked, "Right?"

The younger girl nodded, a wide smile was plastered across her pretty face as she turned her sight to a tall, red haired boy who walked towards her. "You're so awesome." She said, blushing, which in turn, reddened him just as profoundly.

"D—don't give me that look in front of everyone." Hanamichi stuttered, covering his head with a white towel.

"Bu—but, you are! You have no idea how breathtaking you are when you play! My heart never skipped a beat that much before..."

"Is.. is that so.? Ah, tha—thank you."

"No, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to embarrass you!"

"Of course not! You never embarrass me! Don't be stupid!"

"I'm such an idiot!"

"No you're not! I love you, I'm so proud to have you as my girlfriend! Don't ever think so lowly about yourself, Haruko-chan!"

"Hana-kun!"

"Haruko-chan!"

The two hugged bashfully like a cliché dorama reunion scene and to everyone's mild avoidance. Ayako was the first to move away with a huge imaginary sweat drop hanging on top of her head, much to everyone's uniformed ill-feelings.

"They've been dating for two months." Hisashi monotonously said, "And they're a lot more lovey dovey than you and your girlfriend." He continued, verbally stabbing Ryota's heart in futility.

"_Urusai_!" the former Captain frustratingly exclaimed.

"_Ma_, even the ice block and his girl looks mighty warm compared to you and Ayako-chan." The DJ continued, pointing a scene with his eyes where Rukawa Kaede and Akane Mizusawa sat together at one of the court benches with the latter lovingly feed a piece of _tori karaage_ to the former's mouth.

"I'm not listening to this!" Ryota covered both his ears and walked away from his friend in exasperation.

"I'm going home, man! Good match!"

"Go to hell!"

Hisashi laughed his ass off.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

With too many things have been brought into subject, Kiyomi Asayake prepared her transfer from one city to another. Unresolved issues about the moving of work paraphernalia and all around stuffs at home occupied the very space of her head. Taking the Enoshima railway train to go check what awaits her in Fujisawa, she turned to see the vast Sagami bay spread before her eyes, though behind metal and glass borders, and felt a relaxed feeling slowly incorporated inside of her.

The train felt so calm, and the tall iced Caramel Latte from the much-hyped Starbucks on her hand enhanced the effect even more. She smiled to herself as her hazel eyes kept on looking at the bay, despite the train's nearing its next station, where she would get off. She felt like standing so that she could see further beyond the bay, locating Enoshima Island and the land bridge that connects Fujisawa to it.

A small chime appeared inside the train, signaling every passenger that they've arrived in Fujisawa station. Asayake complied, approaching the exit door just before the train fully stopped. She stepped out just as the door opened, and started walking to her right, finding the stairs down, and let a small paper out from the pockets of her jeans with one hand. Stopping briefly just at the end of the stairs, she unfolded it and read something written on it with an unconcerned look.

"Ah, _so desu_." She murmured to herself.

Kiyomi shrugged, and in a swift movement, spun her feet to start walking when someone suddenly bumped into her hard enough that caused the ice latte on her other hand collided with the culprit and splashed nearly all of the contents right onto his upper body as well as hers. The sweet smell of the drink immediately became stronger to her nose, and quite possibly his as well. A pause was shared; they both froze on the spot, and other people who just got off the station were doing nothing but glaring while they pass any thought of concern.

"Eh?" She finally verbalized, though barely audible. Her eyes slowly looked up to see the man's face, and all she saw was a pair of dark, dark blue eyes.

Hisashi was clearly annoyed, but didn't say anything. He sensed his jawline tightened and a heavy breath slowly came down his lungs. He saw whipped cream trickling down his shirt and jacket, moistening the fabric with a light brown liquid that are too apparent to leave a mark if being left for too long. Despite this, looking at how dumbfounded the girl he bumped into, and that stone-like expression on her face, he decided to just let it go and call it a day. Before something ever had the chance to come out of his opened mouth, the man was forcefully halted.

"EEEEHHHHHHHHHHH???!!!!!" because Asayake Kiyomi has lost it.

-End of Chapter Two-

-to be continued-

So. So sorry it's so damn short. I wanna left it hanging just as Asa went hysterics with the latte incident. Teeheehee..

Chapter Three coming up! And I won't lag this time!


	4. Chapter 3 : Airbrushed Windows

**Disclimer**: Slam Dunk is not mine. I gain nothing from this except for a probable few notoriousness amongst yaoi-lovers.

**Author's Note**: No, I'm not gonna cop-out this time, I swear! Oh, and for anyone who's kinda curious on how Asayake looks like: Check my profile, since for some reason, FFN doesn't allow URL instalment on uploaded documents.

Meh.

Anyways, thank you for the reviews as always, I love thee. Add me on **Twitter **if you wanna (just search for Jakafe and there ya go) so you can bug the hell outta me to actually finish the damn story. (kisses) (kisses)

**Voices of Light  
**

Chapter Three: "Airbrushed Windows"

Silence. Silence. Silence.

"Wha… What… WHAT HAVE I DONE?!!" Asayake Kiyomi flabbergasted in utter dramatization despite preposterously holding a still position of her plastic latte cup against Hisashi Mitsui's chest. Her eyes were wide open, her jaw was hanging, tension got all over her face complete with maximum disbelief, yet she couldn't find the power on her logic to actually pull off, and not make his outfit even wetter with iced caramel latte. They shared stillness yet once more, while the discomfort level went higher and was starting to create imaginary visuals of sweat beads, series of vertical lines, and pumping blood veins, especially on his temples. He didn't think she noticed this though, which was unfortunate, since it's beginning to get rather sticky on his torso area.

"_Ano_…" Hisashi broke the awkward silence.

"Boutique!" She exclaimed.

"Ha?"

"We need to get to a boutique!"

"_Mou daijobu_, I was just on my way ho---"

"WE NEED TO GET TO A BOUTIQUE!"

As effective as bribing during times of recession, her sudden determination created a successful silencer against his light effort to dismiss the present problem, and thus the three pointer specialist objected no more.

"…Okay." He quietly agreed.

"Good, let me throw this away, first." She quickly spun again to locate a nearby trash bin to finally throw away the quarter-empty plastic cup, and dashed back to Hisashi. "_Gomenasai_! Let's go!"

Her slender but strong fingers took a firm hold of Hisashi's left wrist and semi-dragged him along in further compliance. He thought that she was quite sturdy, but ceased his surprise after judging her built and taking glances upon her noticeable arm muscles, despite them partially being underneath a fabric. Being an experienced athlete, Mitsui couldn't help but thinking whether the girl has regular training in a particular sport, and therefore set her physically apart from most girls he know. If anything, for such a brief moment, he was actually impressed. She continued to gently pull him by the wrist as she walked before him, this particular gesture made him aware of one thing: it felt like Kindergarten.

"Uh, you can let go now." He calmly said to the auburn-haired girl.

She turned around and looked down to her hand holding his, "I'm sorry!" she said as she let go almost abruptly, "That was so rude of me!"

Chuckling, Hisashi continued to analyze her under prompt thoughts. One, she seems to be from outside of Fujisawa. Second, she's responsibility-driven. And third, she's clumsily entertaining to watch. Walking along the downward asphalt road of a small shopping district nearby the station, he decided to give in to the temptation of small talks. Either that, or kept on watching her determinedly looking for a boutique, his call. Again, she had her back towards him, and he could see just how well-posed she was from behind, emphasizing a curve he didn't see very often on Japanese women in general.

"This is getting sticky." He said flatly, referring to his stained chest area. She immediately stopped walking, and turned around with a worried look on her face. "Even if I go change my shirt, it's still gonna feel weird on my skin."

"Oh, I have some wet tissues!" She claimed, opening her small newspaper bag and exposing the related object she had claimed ownership of, "See? I can wipe it off for you later."

"Uhm, I can do it myself," He replied almost immediately, "Thanks for the offer."

Did she just offer herself to wipe my bare chest, he thought in disbelief. She tilted her head, probably slightly confused as to why his face suddenly showed a sign of small distress, but decided to shrug it off and continued looking ahead of her. They continued walking, and the road began to go upwards, slowing down their steps. For some reason, time seemed to have silently slowed down like an aftermath of a bad joke. It was nearing four in the afternoon, and he could hear crows cawing in the tinted sky with their mockery for his bad luck. Unknown to him was that the black birds' "_Ahou_! _Ahou_! _Ahou_!" puns were heartily felt by her as well, if not more.

She couldn't believe how messed up she was for letting such an embarrassing thing happen towards a total stranger, "_E...to_… I'm really sorry." She shamefully apologized again, a lot composed this time around, "I should've watched where I'm going." Asayake stopped, turned around to him and bowed deeply, "_Honto-ni_, _m__oshiwake __g__oizaimase__n_!"

Feeling a rush of genuine warmth from her, Hisashi gave a faint, but honest smile in return, "Please raise your head." He kindly asked her, "I don't really like it when a girl's bowing to me so extremely." He continued, briefly scratching the back of his head.

She slowly straightened up herself, hesitantly starting to look at his face, and came to a realization at just how deep his eyes were with those dark indigo orbs dueling against her caramel irises. Diverting away from further looking at him, she timidly turned around towards the street before her, and continued to walk with him following closely. A mild breeze brushed against their cheeks, carrying the woody scent of autumn. For a second there, he thought he felt a light kiss on his lips as the shy wind nonchalantly passed. He watched as her shoulder-length auburn hair softly flowing in small sequences, dancing in random motion that sent suggestive signals for him to either receive, or ignore.

Soon enough, Asayake's eyes blinked at a direction, and she was instantly animated, "Ah! There it is!" she happily exclaimed, pointing at a small clothing store about five meters away on the left side of the road, "Let's check it out!"

He didn't have the time to respond before she took his wrist and dragged him once more, and as they grow closer to the destination, he noticed her choice of store. It was relatively small like any other one of its kind, dominated in white paint from the window sills, to the door frame. Speaking of doors, by the way, it didn't require a lengthy set of time until she finally reached the knob and made her, and his way inside.

"_Irrashaimase_!" a female store clerk greeted cheerfully behind her desk, "Please take a look around at our store!"

"_Hai_, _arigatou_!" replied Kiyomi in a casual manner. She slowly released his wrist once more and went on to business. Her eyes were effectively browsing at the hanging collection of shirts and whatever of its types available on the spot. "Let's see now…. You're probably a medium-sized, _deshou_?" she asked without looking at him while her fingers danced in between metal hangers.

"Yeah." He answered swiftly.

"Well then…" She went on and picked up a dark brown polo shirt with sandy pale turquoise and ivory white large horizontal stripes across its chest, and brought it to his attention. "This will look great on you." She firmly stated, placing the shirt right in front of his body.

At first, he thought that she was just half-assing her kind gestures to get him a new outfit, but after seeing at the high quality of her choice, he realized that the girl was being true to her words. Despite the lightning-quick of a time she took to glance through the clothes, she managed to find something that was tasteful and fitting. His astonishment towards her apparently grew another notch, and it didn't take a long time until he agreed to her pick.

"If you say so." He responded quite diplomatically with a dim smirk.

Asayake nodded her head in glee, "Miss!" she called the store clerk as the other girl left the cashier desk and approached her.

"_Hai, okyaku-sama_?" the female clerk replied, "Would you like that one?"

"Yes, and I want to wear it right away." She went on as she handed the shirt to the clerk.

"Eh?"

"_Sumimasen_! I meant him!" Asayake pointed at a suddenly weirded-out Hisashi, "I want to have him wear it right away… uhm, I mean."

"Ah, I understand, it's a present for your boyfriend, _ne_?" the clerk delinquently hinted, taking the shirt in a slowed motion.

"He's not my boyfriend." She answered as flatly as a road kill.

Well, that didn't take her long to blurt out the naked truth, he thought in post-pretentiousness. Feeling the atmosphere becoming quite heavy in an uncomfortable silence, Mitsui decided to jump into the obviously-derailed conversation.

"May I?" he asked the expressionless clerk for his supposedly new shirt, and the poor girl hesitantly complied.

Realizing that he was getting ready to enter the fitting room, Kiyomi opened her bag and immediately handed him a pack of wet tissues, "_Dozo_!" She prompted.

There was a brief, yet quite audible sigh coming from him, with the company of a lightly shook head, as he took the tissues and went inside the fitting room at the corner of the store. After taking off his partially wet jacket and shirt, the former MVP took some wet tissues and wiped parts of his chest that had gotten splashed with the latte until he can no longer felt the sticky sensation anymore. He momentarily thought about his observation of her, amongst other things that he could possibly be thinking about, that is. For a woman who looked so inept at first glance, she can make good decisions in less than five minutes, be it from the decision to find a boutique, to wet tissues, to picking up the right substitutional outfit. To be honest, the only person he knew that can act that way was Ayako Morii, who was none other than his high school basketball team's manager, but even that was something he's not too surprised since Ayako does look incredibly assuring to begin with.

Hisashi wore the new polo shirt, and again, he was amazed at how her precision came to a T when it wrapped his body just right, and how complimentary the colours were to his already athletic body. Never a poster child of narcissism, he found himself rather at a satisfactory level on how good he was projected by the mirror before him. He inhaled a good quantity of air and released it in an exhale before picking up his used clothes, opened the fitting room curtain and stepped out.

"Well?" he asked the two girls who immediately noticed him.

"Ah! You look great, _okyaku-sama_!" the clerk exclaimed, her eyes were radiant with amazement.

It was a generic answer for any store clerks to say, he thought, so the answer he was actually aiming for was the auburn-haired girl's, instead. Sure enough, Asayake gave her piece of mind.

"Very nice." She said, smiling with her glossy peach-tinted lips while pure contentment was glaring throughout her expression. "Oh, could you please cut the tag and put his old clothes into the paper bag? No need to wrap them." She promptly told the clerk who later conformed to her wishes.

"I pulled it off, here." He stated, giving the new shirt's price tag and handed it over to the clerk alongside with his dirty clothes. The later thanked him, and went on to do her job behind the cashier desk. Another moment of opportunistic silence came to bother, but he decided to scrap that and introduced himself to her instead. Approaching the so-called perpetrator of these eventful misfortunes, he told her his name, "Mitsui Hisashi."

She turned to face him; her eyes were as bright as the Sagami bay in the middle of summer. Was that an introduction, she thought rather naively, ignoring the fact that every brain cells in her head were already giving her the command to introduce herself in return. "Kiyomi Asayake." She replied politely, "I apologize once again for my rudeness."

"Kiyomi-san, _desune_?" He repeated, drawing himself closer to where she was standing.

"_Hai_, Mitsui-san." She coyly gave a similar gesture, "_Ano_... is it possible for you to give me your address?"

It's quite a countless amount of time when one would think at just how often this particular 21-year old girl managed to make wrong assumptions by the choice of words she allowed her mouth to oust, and this was just another example of such mess. Hisashi was already thinking about condoms supply and that one love hotel owned by his former gang members, when she asked about addresses. His, in particular, of course, because why else would a woman ask for man's home location? Unfortunately, he was later mildly disappointed when she said the following line, instead of anything perverse:

"I need to wash them first before I give them back to you." She referred to the dirty, coffee-stained clothes.

"Oh." He responded apathetically, "Sure."

"_Okyaku-sama_, everything would be ¥3.000, please." The clerk girl informed both of them, in which was greeted by Asayake's gesture of taking the exact amount of money necessary from her wallet and placing them at a tiny payment tray on the cashier desk, "_Arigato_ _gozaimasu_, it's an exact change. _Hai, dozo_." She thanked, and appropriately prepared the requested bag on the same table for her customers to take. "Please come again!" she said for the last time, while bowing respectfully towards both of them as they took the bag and head to the door.

The two smiled to her and bid their goodbyes, and of course, being the roughly-made gentleman that he was, Hisashi decided to open the door, and let her pass through first. Impressed by his courtesy, Asayake lightly bowed and head outside before him. With both of them being on the streets once more, an atmosphere of parting ways became apparent and near visible, and as private data was exchanged between them as she wrote down both his address and phone number to a small notebook, the setting sun fits the horizon with a drapery of darkened saturation. She raised her head to look at him once more, as he watched her soft stare ascending to meet his, and then, a fusion was formed.

"I'll call you when they're done, Mitsui-san." She gently spoke; her tone was like liquid silk.

"I'll be waiting then, Kiyomi-san..." He replied.

She took a couple of steps back, and bowed again before walking further away, and disappeared from his sight. Unknown to any of them, that their hearts each skipped a beat.

-- to be continued --

**Endnote**: _Ara_? I hope I didn't put too many unknown Japanese phrases. I just got too carried away, I guess. Teehee. Oh well, as usual, reviews and comments are most welcome!


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